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<SMALL>&copy; 1991 Brian R. Page</SMALL>

<CENTER>
<H1><I>Blast Off With BASIC</I></H1>
<BR>
<H2>Glossary of Terms</H2>
<BR>
</center>

<DL>

<P></P><DT>
       ABEND:
<DD>
   A  contraction 
       of abnormal end.         
<P></P><DT>                                 
       ALGORITHM:
<DD>
  A  step-by-         
       step  plan  or  formula         
       for solving a problem.
                                       
       
<P></P><DT>
ALPHANUMERIC:
<DD>
   A  mixture of alphabetic letters  and numerals.  An
       alphanumeric   keyboard         
       contains  both  letters         
       and numbers.  An alphanumeric  variable  permits  both  letters and         
       numerals.                       
                                       
       
<P></P><DT>
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
<DD>
  A computer program     which,    when         
       running,  has  the  appearance  of  human intelligence.                     
                                       
       
<P></P><DT>
ASCII:
<DD>
  An acronym  for         
       American       National         
       Standard Code  for  Information  Interchange.         
       ASCII defines the  combination  of bits which         
       represent each  letter,         
       numeral,   and  special         
       character.    An  ASCII
       file  is one which contains bytes of information   which   can   be         
       translated  into  readable  output.    Binary         
       files,   by   contrast,         
       consist of bit combination which do not  necessarily represent
       ordinary characters.            
                                       
       
<P></P><DT>
BACKSLASH:
<DD>
   The  backslash  character (\) is used in DOS commands to identify   directories. In  BASIC, backslash is
       the symbol for  integer
       division.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
BANG:
<DD>
  A computer slang
       term  for  the exclamation point (!).
       
        
<P></P><DT>
BASIC:
<DD>
  The letters  in
       BASIC  really stand for
       something:   Beginner's
       All-purpose    Symbolic
       Instruction Code.   The
       language  was developed at Dartmouth College in
       New Hampshire.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
BINARY:
<DD>
  Having  to  do
       with the number two.  A
        binary numbering system
       uses  only  two digits, zero and one.  A binary
       search divides a  group
       of  items in half.  Binary is useful in  computing    because   the
       electronic devices  can
       represent  the zero and
       one  as  off   and   on
       switches.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
BIT:
<DD>
   An  abbreviation
       for binary  digit.    A
       bit  is  a single digit
       of a binary number.   A
       bit  can be either zero
       or one.    In  computer
       hardware,  a bit is either off or on.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
BLOWS  UP:
<DD>
   A  program blows  up when it unexpectedly ends in an error.

       
<P></P><DT>
BOOT:
<DD>
  To load an operating system  into  the 
       memory  of  a  personal 
       computer and  start  it 
       running.  The most common   operating  system
       for  personal  computer 
       is DOS.                   
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
BRANCH:
<DD>
     Ordinarily, 
       BASIC programs  execute 
       one  instruction  at  a 
       time in line number order.   A  branch  is  a
       jump   out   of  order.   
       Branches are made  with  
       BASIC instructions such  
       as GOTO and GOSUB.      

       
<P></P><DT>
BUG:
<DD>
   A program error.  
       The term arose  in  the  
       early   days  of  electronic computing when a  
       real  insect  caused  a  
       problem   to  a  United  
       States Navy project.
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
BYTE:
<DD>
  A collection  of   
       eight bits.               
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
CLONE:
<DD>
   An IBM compatible personal computer.
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
CODE:
<DD>
  A contraction of  
       source code.   Contrast 
       with machine code.      

       
<P></P><DT>
COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTER (CGA):
<DD>
  A hardware  device  needed to display 
       graphics  on  a   color 
       screen.                                  
       
<P></P><DT>
COMMAND:
<DD>
   An  instruction  to  BASIC  or  to   
       DOS.   Since both BASIC   
       and DOS  are  programs,   
       the    commands   cause   
       these  programs  to  do  
       something.               
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
CONSTANT:
<DD>
   If the contents of a variable  do
       not  change, that variable is called  a  constant.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU):
<DD>
   The portion of computer hardware which
       executes  machine   instructions such as add,
       move,   multiply,   and
       branch.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
CRASH:
<DD>
    A    computer
       slang  term for a, usually serious,  programming error.

       
<P></P><DT>
CURSOR:
<DD>
     The   small
       underscore    character
       (_),  usually blinking,
       that shows where on the
        screen typed characters
       would appear.

        
<P></P><DT>
DATA:
<DD>
  The  information to  be  processed  by a
       computer program.   The
       program  itself  is not data.


<P></P><DT>
DEBUGGING:
<DD>  The glorious  process of finding and fixing errors in a program.

       
<P></P><DT>
DIRECTORY:
<DD>
  A disk file
       which  lists other disk
       files and  directories.
       The  contents of directories  are  listed  by the DOS DIR command.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
DISK DRIVE:
<DD>
  A hardware
       device  used  to permanently  store  computer
       files.    Two types are
       made.   A  floppy  disk
       drive has small removable disks.  A hard disk
       drive  uses faster more 
       delicate disks that are 
       usually not removable.  
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
DISKETTE:
<DD>
    A   floppy disk.                   
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
DOS:
<DD>
  The most  popular  
       operating   system  for 
       personal computers. 
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
EDITOR:
<DD>
    A    program 
       which   allows  you  to 
       type   information   or 
       programs  into computer 
       files.                  

       
<P></P><DT>
EXTENSION:
<DD>
   Disk  file 
       names  consist  of  two 
       parts.  An  eight-character  filename  and  a 
       three-character  extension.    BASIC programs 
       usually have an  extension of BAS.
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
FIELD:
<DD>
    The  smallest 
       part of a  DATA  statement  that  can  be assigned  to   a   single 
       variable.                
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
FILE:
<DD>
   A collection of   
       data or a program  permanently    stored   on   
       disk,  tape,  or   some   
       other    media   (paper   
       tape, punched cards).  
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
FILENAME:
<DD>
   The   first 
       part   of  a  DOS  file 
       name.  The filename may 
       have up to eight  characters.  It may be followed  by a dot (.) and
       a  three-character  extension.                
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
FLOPPY  DISK:
<DD>
   A  flat 
       disk of plastic covered  
       with a magnetic coating
       used  to   record   and
       store  computer  files.
       Several types of floppy disks are available.
       
 
<P></P><DT>
FLOWCHART:
<DD>
   A  diagram using  boxes, diamonds,
       circles,   ovals,   and
       parallelograms  to display the flow  of  control   as   a   program
       executes.    Flowcharts
       are   very  useful  for
       understanding and planning the operation of a
       program.

         
<P></P><DT>
FLOWER BOX:
<DD>
  A  rectangle  made of asterisks.
       Comments    and     instructions   are  often
       put in flower boxes  to
       set  them  off from the
       program statements.


<P></P><DT>
FREQUENCY:
<DD>
  Cycles  per
        second or Hertz (Hz) of
        a sound tone.
       
         FUNCTION:  A BASIC command  that  causes  the
     BASIC  interpreter   to
         run a subroutine.
       
 
<P></P><DT>
FUNCTION KEY:
<DD>
  The keys
        on  a personal computer
        keyboard, usually  numbered F1 through F10 or
        F12.   Certain commands
        are usually assigned to
        function keys.   Pressing the function key is a  way  to avoid typing
        the entire command.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
GRAPHICS   MODE:
<DD>
    The
        ability  of  a personal
      computer   to   display
       graphics  figures  such
       as circles and lines.

       
<P></P><DT>
HARD DISK:
<DD>
  A  type  of  
       magnetic  storage  disk  
       that uses stiff plastic  
       platters spinning  rapidly.   Hard disks have 
       greater  capacity  than 
       floppy  disks  and  the  
       information   can    be  
       moved   into   computer 
       memory more rapidly.    
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
HARDWARE:
<DD>
   The   electronic  components of a
       computer.                  
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
HERTZ (HZ):
<DD>
  A unit  of
       measurement meaning cycles per second.  Sound  
       frequencies  are  measured in Hertz.          

       
<P></P><DT>
HEXADECIMAL:
<DD>
   A   base  
       sixteen  numbering system.  Hexadecimal  uses  
       the  numerals  1, 2, 3,  
       4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B,  
       C, D, E, and F.  A single  hexadecimal  digit 
       can    represent   four 
       bits.  Two  hexadecimal 
       digits    represent   a 
       byte.                   
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
INPUT:
<DD>
   Data  supplied
       to a computer program.   
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O):
<DD>
  
       The process or  devices 
       used to supply input to 
       a  computer program and 
       display or  sound  output.                     
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
INSTRUCTION:
<DD>
  A command  
       or  statement that make
       computer  hardware   do   
       something.                
                                 
       
<P></P><DT>
INTERPRETER:
<DD>
    When  a   
       program of BASIC statements is  running,  the   

       BASIC  interpreter converts each line, one at
       a  time,  into  machine
       instructions  for  execution on the CPU.  The
       interpreter    performs
       the   conversion   from
       BASIC  language  statements  which make sense
       to a human into machine instructions which  are
       used by the hardware.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
INTEGER:
<DD>
   A whole number.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
KILOBYTE  (KB):
<DD>
   1,024
       bytes.   Memory size is
       often measured in kilobytes.

       
<P></P><DT>
LITERAL:
<DD>
   Words,  letters,   numerals,   and
       special characters that
       are  used  exactly   as
       they  are written.   No
       variable   substitution
       or   interpretation  is
       done on literals.    An
        example   is   anything
       contained within quotation marks on  a  PRINT statement.

       
<P></P><DT>
LOOP:
<DD>
   The  flow  in a
program  which   causes
       the  same  BASIC statements  to  be  executed
       over  and  over.    The
       FOR-NEXT  BASIC  statement  is  used  to make
       loops.  Some loops  are accidental  and  result
       from program bugs.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
MACHINE   CODE:
<DD>
     Instructions   which  are
      executed  by  the  personal   computer   CPU.
        Since BASIC  statements
       cannot be understood by
       the  CPU, the BASIC interpreter converts each  
       BASIC  statement   into  
       one   or  more  machine 
       code instructions.      
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MAINLINE  ROUTINE:
<DD>
    A 
       portion  of  a  program 
       which controls the execution  of  the  entire   
       program.   The mainline  
       routine  contains   the  
       GOSUB  statements calling the subroutines.     

       
<P></P><DT>
MEGABYTE (MB):
<DD>
 
       1,048,576  bytes.  Memory size is often measured in megabytes.       
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MEMORY:
<DD>
   The  computer  
       hardware  which  stores  
       data   and    programs.  
       Data  must be in memory  
       to be used  by  a  program.    A program must  
       be in memory  in  order  
       to  run.  Computer memory stores all information in binary.          
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MODEM:
<DD>
  A device  which  
       allows personal computers to communicate over  
       telephone   lines.    A
       communications  program  
       must  execute  to use a  
       modem.
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MODULO:
<DD>
  A BASIC operator which produces  the        
       remainder  left after a 
       division     operation.  
       The command is MOD.      
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MONITOR:
<DD>
   A video display screen.             
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
MONOCHROME:
<DD>
   A  single   
       color   video   display   
       screen.

      
<P></P><DT>
MOUSE:
<DD>
   An  input  device.  The mouse allows
       a person to move a cursor-like  symbol around
       the screen  to  provide input    for   programs
       written to accept mouse
       input.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
NESTED  LOOP:
<DD>
   A  loop
       contained   within  another loop.   The  most
       common   in  BASIC  are
       nested FOR-NEXT loops.

         
<P></P><DT>
OPERATING  SYSTEM:
<DD>
    A
       computer  program which
        manages  the   personal
       computer hardware.  The operating  system  controls screen  displays,
       access  to  disk files,
       and  all   input/output
        operations.

       
<P></P><DT>
OPERATOR:
<DD>
   A mathematical operation such  as
       addition    (+),   subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/ and  \),  greater  than
       (>), less than (<), not
       equal  (<>), and modulo
       (MOD).
       
       
<P></P><DT>
OUTPUT:
<DD>
  Data  produced
       by a computer program.
       
        
<P></P><DT>
PIXEL:
<DD>
   A  contraction
       of picture element.   A
pixel is a point on a
       display screen.  It  is
       the   smallest  portion
        that  may  be  set   or changed.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
RADIAN:
<DD>
  A section of a
         circle  (arc)  equal in
       length to  the  radius.
       Partial  circles  drawn
       with the  BASIC  CIRCLE 
       command  are  specified 
       in radians.             
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
RAM:
<DD>
   An  abbreviation 
       for Random Access  Memory.    RAM  is  memory
       which  holds  data  and  
       programs.  The information  is held in binary  
       format.   Any  byte  of  
       RAM  may be accessed by  
       the computer.  If power
       is  removed  from  RAM,  
       all   information  currently  in  memory   is  
       lost.                    
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
RESERVED  WORDS:
<DD>
  Words  
       and abbreviations which
       have special meaning to  
       BASIC.  Reserved  words  
       cannot be used as variable names.              
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
RESOLUTION:
<DD>
   The ability of a  video  screen  
       to    display   images.  
       High  resolution   pictures   can  look  even
       sharper  than  ordinary  
       television.  Low resolution  images rough and  
       blocky.  The resolution  
       provided with the BASIC  
       SCREEN 1 command is actually rather poor.
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
ROM:
<DD>
   An  abbreviation  
       for  Read  Only Memory.  
       Integrated     circuits
       containing   ROM   hold  
       their information  even   
       when   the   power   is   
       turned off.    However,
       they  cannot  hold  any   
       new  information.     A   
       personal  computer cannot store any new  data
       in ROM.                  
                                
        
<P></P><DT>
ROOT:
<DD>
    The  beginning
        directory  on  a  disk.
       The  root directory may contain disk  files  or
       pointers  to  other directories.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
ROUTINE:
<DD>
  A  collection
       of   BASIC   statements
       which work together  as
       a  unit  to  perform  a
       specific task.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
SCROLL:
<DD>
   The  movement
       of  output  on  a video
       screen   display   from
        bottom  to  top  as new lines  are  written  at
       the bottom.
       
        
<P></P><DT>
SOFTWARE:
<DD>
      Computer
        programs.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
SOURCE   CODE:
<DD>
    BASIC
        statements.      Source
       code   statements   are
        turned   into   machine
       code by the  BASIC  interpreter.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
SPAGHETTI    CODE:
<DD>
    A
       BASIC program,  usually
       using   too  many  GOTO
        statements,   that   is
       difficult to understand
        and follow. 

       
<P></P><DT>
SPLAT:
<DD>
     A   computer
       slang term for  an  asterisk (*).
       
       
<P></P><DT>
STATEMENT:
<DD>
   A  command
       or function defined  in
         the BASIC language.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
STRING:
<DD>
   A  collection
       of one or more  characters.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING:
<DD>
   A way of writing programs  which
       emphasizes     building 
       block subroutines  controlled  by  a mainline 
       routine that  uses  few
       GOTO  statements.  Contrast  with   spaghetti  
       code.                    
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
SUBROUTINE:
<DD>
    A   collection of BASIC statements  to   perform   a  
       special job.  A subroutine is controlled by a  
       mainline routine.        
                                
       
<P></P><DT>
SYNTAX:
<DD>
    The  way  in  
       which BASIC  statements  
       are put together.        

       
<P></P><DT>
TABLE:
<DD>
  A collection of 
       data,  either  input or 
       output,  that  is   arranged in rows and columns.                   
                               
       
<P></P><DT>
TERMINAL:
<DD>
  A video display  screen  and  keyboard that  is  usually  
       connected to a computer
       network.

       
<P></P><DT>
TEXT  MODE:
<DD>
   The video
       display mode  in  which
       only  characters may be
       written to the screen.
       
       
<P></P><DT>
USER  FRIENDLY:
<DD>
    Programs which are easy to
       use are said to be user
        friendly.  User friendly  programs do
       not demand that the users  be perfect.  They
       can  make   assumptions
        about  input, for example, not requiring that all letters of  an  answer by entered or that
       the input be all of upper case.

        
<P></P><DT>
VARIABLE:
<DD>
   A  name assigned to a location in
       memory that is used  to
       hold  data.   Variables
       function   like   mailboxes.    The  variable
        name  is  the  address,
       and the contents may be
       changed.
       
</DL>

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